The tale of the lost boy

The Tale of the lost boy is a traditional fable from Nampyeon, although variants can be heard all over the continent. At its core, it tells the story of a little boy who gets lost and find his way back home thanks to the help of a snow spirit, a common figure in Pyeonic folklore. The boy finds seven monoliths on his path (one of which is said to be the Divine Finger), each representing one of the seven ancient nations.

The tale

Little Rin was going back home from a visit to his grandmother when he got lost in a dense and cold forest. He tried many paths but he couldn't find the way back, no matter how hard he tried. The day grew colder as the night approached, and Little Rin was tired and hungry and thirsty. He looked for a lake to drink water and hunt some fish, but the lake was frozen and he couldn't drink any water or hunt any fish. So Little Rin sat on the ground and started to cry, sad because he had lost his family.
But then, there was a glow and a sound like crystal breaking and a snow spirit appeared. She was tall and strong and made out of blue ice and sparkling white snow. Little Rin stopped crying, for now he was more terrified than he was sad.
"Little Rin, are you lost?", asked the spirit, and her voice felt like a freezing wind blowing on his face.
"I went to see my grandma and then I couldn't find the way back home and I'm lost", said Little Rin.
"Little Rin, follow this path", the spirit said, pointing a direction he hadn't tried yet, "and when you pass seven stones you'll reach home."
And so, Little Rin got up and started walking down the path the spirit had showed him. It wasn't long before he found the first stone, just outside the snowy forest. It big and tall and in the middle of a pond, and Little Rin was happy that he had found some water. But when he tried drinking it, he couldn't do it because it tasted like seawater. But then he found a river with fresh water and he quelled his thirst.
He then found a second stone, which looked like the first one but made of mud. It was surrounded by people of all kinds who kept repairing sections of the stone that fell off because it was very wet. Little Rin was scared of these people he didn't know but one of them gave him a round red fruit and when he tried it, it was very sweet.
After thanking the kind stranger, Little Rin kept walking until he found the third stone. The right half of the stone was cloaked in shadows, while the left side was so brightly lit that he couldn't look at it. The boy was scared by that uneasy sight and he quickly continued down the path without looking back.
He kept going until he tripped over a small rock jutting out from a sandy area. This stone was hidden underground, and Little Rin wondered who had hidden it there and why didn't anyone put it back like the people who were repairing the mud stone. But there was no one around to ask so he kept walking.
The next stone was covered with lush leaves and colorful flowers, and it was surrounded by a group of people singing and dancing. The singers and the dancers invited Little Rin, and he sat and sung and danced with them for a while until he decided to keep following the path. The strange people gave him food and water for the rest of his journey and bid him farewell wit broad smiles.
Little Rin knew the next stone would be the sixth, so he started walking faster. But he stopped when he saw the beauty of the next stone. It looked like a big gemstone and shone like a full moon and sparkled in thousands of different colors. He had never seen anything more beautiful than that, so he stopped and looked at it for a long time so he could remember it later on.
Finally, Little Rin approached the seventh stone, made of solid granite and covered in snow and ice. And in the distance, he saw his house, with his mother waiting in the doorway, waving at him.

Cultural impact

The tale of the lost boy is the most well-known folk tale in Nampyeon and Yeoheung, and several variations have appear and expanded to the rest of the world. The fable is often seen as symbolizing the importance of learning about other people to find yourself. The Pyeonic idiom "to lose one's stones", said of people who lose their temper, also comes from this tale.

Related Locations

• The Divine Finger